Violent video games have been linked to an increase in aggressive behavior in adolescents

Exposure to violent video games by children has been proven to be linked to an increase in aggression. This topic has recently become under analysis, and professionals such as Craig Anderson have found that this aggression has lead to less caring and more socially awkward human beings. The repercussions of this include not only increased aggression but can even lead to kids shooting each other. Many of these researchers have used meta-analysis as a way of analyzing the data and coming to conclusions about the behavior and thoughts about these children from repeated and specific exposure.

Video game scripts and social expectations are translated into real life

As children repeatedly play a video game, they start to act and perform like the character of the game. With violent games such as Grand Theft Auto, this presents a problem because the scripts to these games are to fight back whenever someone in the game says or does something you don't like. What this does to children after a long exposure to it, is that it makes them think that this type of behavior is acceptable and that it is common to act in such as way. What it also does is makes it hard for adolescents to distinguish the lines between fantasy and reality. Psychology professor at the University of Maryland, Kent Norman who specializes in cognitive behavior and human/ computer interactions, gives his input about these video games and how it affects children.

Exposure to violent video games can lead to life-changing problems
Not only does constant exposure to violent video games cause aggressive behavior, but it has also been proven to cause children to be less sympathetic and less sensitive to pain. This can lead to the breaking of controllers or video game consoles from rage or even worse it can lead to a child bringing a gun to a public place or school and reenacting what they did in the video game. In 1997, Evan Ramsey a student at Bethel Regional High School entered school one day with a 12-gauge shotgun and killed 2 people, blaming his shooting on the video game "Doom" he use to play. During an 2007 interview, Ramsey expressed his confusion when he said, "I did not understand that if I... pull out a gun and shoot you, theres a good chance your not getting up." Though this is one example, many school shootings have been examined to be linked to an obsession with violent video games such as the Columbine Massacre and the shooting at Virginia Tech.